1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to fire pump control techniques, and more particularly to a control apparatus for a fire pump. In a fire pump having a fire pomp body and a nozzle connected to the pump body via a delivery horse, such a control apparatus is formed at a side of the nozzle so as to enable the controlling of an operation of a fire pump body and the displaying of the operation condition of the same to be done in real time.
The present invention also relates to an operation display unit for a fire pump, and more particularly to an operation display apparatus for a fire pump which enable not only the controlling of an operation of the fire pump and the displaying of the operation condition of the fire pump.
Further, the present invention relates to a operation mode control apparatus for a fire pump, and more particularly to a operation mode control apparatus for a fire pump having an automatic relay water supply mode in which, when the relay water supply from a water source to plural fire pumps connected in series is carried out, the water supply from a fire pump on a preceding stage is detected to start an operation of a fire pump automatically.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a fire extinguishing activity using a fire pump (which will hereinafter be referred to xe2x80x9cpumpxe2x80x9d), the water is generally supplied from the pump by using a delivery hose connected to a pump body, and forced out from a nozzle fixed to a front end portion of the delivery hose. During this time, a pump operator who carries out an engine starting operation, a throttle regulating operation and valve opening and closing operations and the like is specially stationed on the side of the pump. The fire extinguishing activity is carried out as the pump operator makes contact with a nozzle operator.
Such operators"" contact with each other is made by using a flag-signal and the like when the operators are in an area in which they can see each other visually, and by radio communication using a transceiver and the like when a scene of a fire is far away from a pump or when there are obstacles, such as houses, living trees and the like between the scene of a fire and pump. In these cases, a communication worker, who is other than the nozzle operator, is stationed on the side of the nozzle and moves with the nozzle operator. The communication worker is engaged in making contact with a worker on the side of the pump.
When a pump is distant from a scene of a fire, the pump is controlled remotely by radio in some cases from the side of the nozzle as disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. Hei. 8-252339. According to the techniques disclosed in this publication, a communication worker carrying a radio transmitter with him moves with a nozzle operator and controls a vehicle-mounted pump and the like remotely on the side of the nozzle, whereby a fire extinguishing activity is carried out. This serves to attain the relieving a nozzle operator, who moves in a dangerous place, of a work load.
Providing a handy pump operating member in the vicinity of a nozzle and operating a pump remotely from the side of the nozzle as disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. Hei. 5-231172 have also been proposed. In this case, the handy operating member is provided with buttons for carrying out engine starting and stopping operations and an operation for instructing a degree of opening of a throttle. A pump body and the handy operating member are connected together by a lead wire. This enables a nozzle operator to control remotely on the side of the nozzle the starting of the discharging of water and the regulating of a water pressure, whereby an accurate fire extinguishing activity can be carried out even when the communication between the pump operator and nozzle operator is hindered.
A fire pump such as a portable fire pump has heretofore been provided with an operation display unit on which switches, keys and various kinds of meters are arranged for the purpose of controlling an operation of the pump and displaying the condition of the operation thereof. For example, a portable fire pump is provided on its upper surface with a power source ON/OFF switch, an engine throttle operating key, a discharge water pressure gauge, etc. An operator carries out an operation of a throttle as he observes various kinds of meters, and regulates an operation condition of the pump suitably.
When a scene of a fire, such as a forest fire is far away from a water source, the so-called relay water supply in which plural portable fire pumps are connected in series to carry out a long distance water supply operation has heretofore been done. For example, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. Hei. 9-154974 discloses a structure for carrying out a relay water supply operation with fire pumps (which will hereinafter be referred to pumps) connected in plural stages. The pumps on a second stage onward in this structure are started automatically when the water supply from a preceding stage is sensed, whereby the relay water supply is carried out without stationing an operator on each stage.
Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. Hei. 10-15105 also discloses a pump adapted to sense the water supply and carry out a relay water supply operation. In this pump, a water pressure and an air pressure are distinguished from each other by a difference between a pressure at an inlet side portion of the pump and a pressure at an outlet side portion thereof in view of a problem of the occurrence of an erroneous actuation of an installed water pressure sensor due to the fluctuation of an air pressure during the relay water supply.
In a pump adapted to carry out such an automatic relay water supply operation, the switching of a regular water discharging operation carried out by a single pump and a relay water supply operation from one to the other is done by an operation of a switch, and such operations of the pump are set by an operator by whom a operation mode is switched suitably on a pump body or by a remote control unit.
However, in the remote control system disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. Hei. 8-252339, the communication worker is needed in addition to the nozzle operator, and the communication between the communication worker and the nozzle operator in an extremely noisy scene of a fire cannot be made freely in some cases. Therefore, this remote control system has a problem concerning an operation efficiency thereof.
In the remote control system disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. Hei. 5-231172, the nozzle operator can control the pump by himself but he cannot grasp the operation condition of a pump in real time since there is not a response to the nozzle operator""s operation. Namely, the nozzle operator cannot get information on whether the engine has really been stopped or information on whether the regulation of the degree of opening of a throttle (the regulation of a water pressure) has been carried out as intended, until variation of a water discharge rate, etc. has occurred after the execution of the pump operating work. Therefore, this remote control system has a problem concerning the capability of the system of transferring information to the nozzle operator.
In a related art operation display unit, data necessary for the controlling of an engine, such as a revolution frequency of an engine and an engine cooling temperature were not always displayed, and there were many portions of an operation of the fire pump which were judged by an operator""s experience on the basis of a sound of an engine and the like. Moreover, the meters provided on a related art operation display unit were analog meters. Therefore, pointers of the meters were not stabilized due to the pulsation of a discharge pressure, etc., and the reading of a value indicated by the pointer was not easily done. Especially, when a controller is provided in a position away from a pump body so that a remote control operation can be carried out, a judgement based on a sound of the engine could not be made. Also, it was impossible to accurately grasp the condition of the pump and control the pump remotely.
On the other hand, it is hard to say that consideration is given to the switch and keys provided on the operation display unit, with respect to the controllability and an erroneous operation thereof. Studying measures to attain the improvement of the capability of the apparatus of ascertaining an operation of these parts, and measures to prevent an operator""s inadvertent touch thereon has been demanded.
Further, in a case where a pump is formed so that, every time a mode switching switch is pressed for carrying out such a operation mode switching operation, a operation mode is switched and fixed to a switched mode, when an input water pressure of not lower than a predetermined level is detected by a water pressure sensor, an operation mode cannot be switched to an automatic relay water supply mode onward in some cases.
Namely, an automatic relay water supply mode is set so that, when an input water pressure reaches a predetermined level, an engine is started automatically to start a relay water supply operation. Therefore, when an input water pressure is not lower than a starting pressure, an inconvenience occurs, i.e., the moment an actual mode is switched to an automatic relay water supply mode during a operation mode switching operation, the engine is started to cause a relay water supply operation to be started and fixed, and the mode cannot be shifted to any further mode. Namely, when no other modes can be selected unless an actual mode is once switched to an automatic relay water supply mode, the automatic relay water supply mode is necessarily selected even for a moment. In such a case, modes beyond the automatic relay water supply mode cannot be selected.
Moreover, when the pump is once operated in a relay water supply mode and then a power source is turned off, a mode used prior to the turned-off of the power source is memorized, so that, when the pump is newly operated, the operation is started in the memorized mode. Consequently, when the power source is turned off so as to stop the relay water supply mode, the pump is operated in the relay water supply mode in the end, and cannot get out of the mode.
Accordingly, a first object according to the present invention is to provide a control apparatus for a fire pump, capable of not only controlling a pump remotely but also grasping the operation condition of the pump in real time, and having excellent operation controllability and information transfer capability.
A second object according to the present invention is to provide an operation display apparatus for a fire pump, capable of carrying out various control and display operations, and having excellent controllability and safety.
A third object according to the present invention is to provide a operation mode control apparatus for a fire pump having an automatic relay water supply mode, and capable of preventing the setting of a mode during a mode switching operation.
The first object can be achieved by a control apparatus for a fire pump according to a first aspect of the present invention. The control apparatus for a fire pump, the fire pump having a fire pump body, a delivery hose connected to the fire pump body at one end thereof, a nozzle connected to the other end of the delivery hose, and a power source line for supplying electric power to the control apparatus, the control apparatus disposed in the vicinity of the nozzle comprising:
an operation control unit for instructing an operation mode of the fire pump and for transmitting an operation control signal corresponding to the instructed operation mode to the fire pump body via the power source line and receiving a condition display signal from the fire pump body via the power source line; and
a condition display unit for displaying an operation condition of the fire pump on the basis of the condition display signal received by the operation control unit.
According to the present invention, the fire pump body and the control apparatus are connected together via the power source lines, and the transmitting and receiving of an operation control signal and a condition display signal are done between the fire pump body and nozzle control apparatus by power line communication made via the power source lines. Therefore, the operation condition of the fire pump is feedback displayed in real time in response to a nozzle operator""s control operation. Accordingly, the nozzle operator can instantly ascertain an effect of his operation, and an accurate and speedy information transfer operation can be carried out. It also becomes possible to carry out an efficient operation of the apparatus and an efficient water discharging operation on the nozzle operator""s judgement, and attain the improvement of the operation efficiency and labor effectiveness.
In the case of this control apparatus, call signals may be transmitted and received by the same apparatus and fire pump body by making power line communication via the power source lines. This enables vocal communication to be made between the nozzle side and the side of the pump body, and communication, such as the reporting of the actual condition and the making of a request for starting an action, and so forth to be made momentarily.
A revolution frequency of the engine of the fire pump may also be displayed as an element, which shows the operation condition of the fire pump, on the condition display member. This enables the nozzle operator to determine the revolution frequency of the engine in real time, and instantly recognize a reaction against an operation in the operation control unit.
The transmission of a signal from the control unit to the fire pump body may also be carried out by superposing FM waves on the power source lines. This enables the reduction of the noise of an operation control signal sent out from the extremely noisy nozzle side to be attained, and more reliable signal transmission to be effected.
In addition, the transmission of a signal from the fire pump body to the control unit may also be carried out by superposing AM waves on the power source lines.
The second object can be achieved by an operation display apparatus for a fire pump according to a second aspect of the present invention. The operation display apparatus for a fire pump, the operation display apparatus comprising:
an operation unit for controlling an operation of the fire pump and for generating a sound corresponding to the control thereof; and
a display unit for displaying operation information on the fire pump corresponding to the operation of the fire pump controlled by operation unit. In the above-mentioned operation display apparatus, the operation unit may generate the sound at every control thereof.
According to the present invention, an operation reception sound, for example, a piping sound is produced every time an operation is carried out, so that an operator can certainly ascertain the fact that the apparatus has received the operation. Moreover, an operation information corresponding to an operation is displayed, and what is thus displayed arouses an operator""s attention to the switching of a mode, etc., and enables the operator to know the operation condition of the pump accurately.
In this case, the display unit may be formed so that a numerical value and a predetermined message are displayed by a 7-segment display unit. This enables various kinds of data to be displayed digitally, and not only data of the numerical value but also various kinds of messages, such as xe2x80x9cFULLxe2x80x9d and the like to be displayed. It also becomes possible to ascertain operation information by a digital display method without reading an indication of a pointer of an analog meter, obtain accurate information on the condition of the pump more extensively, and operate the pump more accurately. A plasma display can also be used as the display unit, and, in this case, more variegated information can be displayed.
The display unit may also be formed so as to display at least one of a revolution frequency of a fire pump driving engine, a cooling water temperature, a discharge pressure of the pump and a discharge flow rate of the pump. This enables operation information including a revolution frequency of the engine, a temperature of engine cooling water, a discharge pressure of the pump, a discharge flow rate of the pump, etc., which an operator has heretofore been unable to know, to be obtained easily by only a switching operation of the operator.
When a failure is detected in any of various kinds of sensors, which are provided on the fire pump and in a constantly monitored state while a power source is in an ON-state, a predetermined error displaying operation set in advance correspondingly to the relative broken-down sensor may be carried out. This enables the pump to have a function of diagnosing the abnormality of a sensor, and the results of the diagnosis to be known to an operator by further utilizing the function of the display unit.
In addition, the operating unit may be provided with a key for judging that an operation is effective only when the operation is carried out continuously for a predetermined period of time, and, for example, an engine stopping key can be set as such a key. This enables the occurrence of an unexpected erroneous operation due to an operator""s inadvertent touch on the key to be prevented. For example, an engine stopping key can prevent only an operator""s touch on the key from causing a power source to be turned on and off.
The operating unit may also be provided relative to a water pressure detecting sensor for detecting a pressure of the water supplied to a fire pump with a key for setting as a reference value a pressure attained when the sensor is operated. For example, when a position of a water source is higher than that of a pump as in a case where a roof water supply source is used, an error occurring in a value detected by a sensor due to the atmospheric pressure can be corrected, and a more accurate control operation can be carried out.
The above-described operation display apparatus may be provided not only on the mentioned fire pump but also on a remote control system provided separately from the fire pump.
The third object can be achieved by an operation mode control apparatus for a fire pump according to a third aspect of the present invention. The operation mode control apparatus for a fire pump having at least operation modes of the fire pump, the operation mode control apparatus comprising:
an operation mode switching unit switching operation modes; and
a mode setting delay unit for delaying, when the operation mode is switched by the operation mode switching unit, the setting of the switched operation mode for a predetermined period of time. In the above-mentioned operation mode control apparatus, one of the operation modes is an automatic relay water supply mode in which the fire pump detects the water supply from a fire pump on a preceding stage and then starts the relay water supply automatically.
According to the present invention, when a operation mode is switched by a mode switching unit, a operation mode switched thereby is not fixed instantly. Therefore, even in a case where some other mode cannot be selected unless a pump passes through an automatic relay water supply mode as in a related art pump, an actual operation mode can be shifted without difficulty to a operation mode beyond the automatic relay water supply mode. Accordingly, for example, in order to select some other operation mode through an automatic relay water supply mode with an input water pressure of a pump which receives water sent from a pump on a preceding stage higher than a pump starting water pressure in the automatic relay water supply mode, the mode is not fixed instantly to xe2x80x9cautomatic relay water supply modexe2x80x9d while the pump passes through the automatic relay water supply mode, i.e., a mode selecting operation can be carried out freely.